2008 Grandstand Bowie Baysox, Mike Rodriguez

NN Mike Rodriguez

Here is another Oriole minor leaguer that was given to me by Ryan in 2013. This one features Mike Rodriguez.

Mike was originally drafted by the Astros in the second round of the 2001 draft. He played in the Astros system for seven seasons and reached AAA with them, spending two seasons at that level. Then, he joined the O's in 2008 and was demoted to AA. In 2009, he played in the Atlantic League before retiring at the end of the season.

Mike finished his career a .269 hitter with 34 home runs and 348 RBI.

With two Grandstand cards back-to-back, it is good to see they used different borders with the two sets. Many times, with so many minor league teams and so few card companies making team sets, borders get repeated among the various teams. I definitely like the border on this one better than the one on yesterday's card.

2008 Grandstand Aberdeen IronBirds, Joe Esposito

NN Joe Esposito

Here is a card that was given to me by Ryan, from The Great Oriole Autograph Project, in 2013. Ryan had sent me a little care package at the time and in it was some random signed minor league cards that he had acquired over the years. This is one of those cards and one more will be coming up in the next post.

Joe pitched in the minor leagues from 2007-2012. He spent the first three seasons in the O's system before joining the Phillies organization for two years and then finishing in the Atlantic League. Minus his Atlantic League time and 14 games in AA, he spent his time in some sort of A-ball.

For his career, Joe was 26-23 with 12 saves and a 3.74 ERA. His best stint in the minors was with the Delmarva Shorebirds in 2009. That season, he got into 18 games in relief and was 3-0 with 2 saves and a 2.43 ERA. He also recorded 52 strikeouts in just 33.1 innings. He was also about two and a half years older than the average player in the South Atlantic League that season and the O's cut ties with him when the season was over.

The rest of 2008 Goudey

#86 Brian Bannister
#88 Billy Butler
#170 Wladimir Balentien

When I was originally mapping out how I was going to post my '08 Goudey cards, I thought that there was going to be seven cards crammed into this post. Well, it did not turn out that way. I ended up giving the three Hall of Famers their own posts rather than lumping them in with these guys.

All of these cards were signed in 2008 and it shows because they are in black Sharpie. I used to always take a black Sharpie with me, but not any more. Now it is always blue. But, I will say that the black actually looks better on this set than blue does. The black is nice and bold and really stands out. On a couple of the ones I posted that were done in blue (Ian Kennedy and David Murphy), the blue blends in with the team name on the jersey.

Brian Bannister- Brian signed this card for me before a game at The K. Prior to signing this card, he was out on the field tossing curve balls to Kyle Davies from about 120 feet away.

Billy Butler- Billy signed this card from the Royals parking lot after a game.

Wladimir Balentien- This is the first card from Wladimir, but he is going to be featured in his own post next week. He signed this one for me during batting practice at a Rangers game. The signature on this card looks like "BaSS".

2008 Goudey, David Murphy

#188 David Murphy

For whatever reason, I thought that I had already posted a card of David Murphy on here at some point. It turns out that is not the case. So, I had to rewind a bit to get this one in.

I got his card signed by him outside of Kauffman Stadium in 2012. He arrived at the ballpark that day on the team bus. If you have never 'graphed players getting off of a Major League bus, it can be difficult. For starters, the players are all in their street clothes and are a challenge to identify. The bigger name guys are easier to spot, but everyone wants their autograph and I rarely try for them because of that. If someone is lucky enough to get them to come over, I will just hop into that mob. Usually, I try to identify one or two players or coaches and just bet on them. It worked out that September day in 2012 in Kansas City as I was somehow able to recognize David Murphy. He was the only guy from the bus that would come over and sign for me.

David played in the Majors for parts of ten seasons with the Red Sox, Rangers, Indians, and Angels. He spent the bulk of that time in Texas and was very consistent during his seven seasons playing outfield there. With the Rangers, he hit .275 and averaged 14 home runs and 58 RBI a season for them as a regular.

David finished his career in 2015 with a .274 lifetime average with 104 homers and 472 RBI.

2008 Goudey, Jeff Francoeur

#M-JF Jeff Francoeur

Here is a card that I got signed by Jeff Francoeur at Royals Fanfest in 2011. Back then, it seemed like I would get at least one jersey card a year signed at the event. That is not the case anymore. Nowadays, it is impossible to get in more than one line per session and the bigger name guys (ie, the ones with jersey cards) only sign once a day. With six lines and not knowing who you are going to be getting, I don't even waste my time buying these for Fanfest anymore. But, I am glad that I bought this one the 2011 event.

Frenchy was an absolute stud when he came up. I had the privilege of watching him play multiple times in his first full season in the Majors since I was stationed in Georgia at the time and he was a joy to watch. But then 2008 came and his numbers dropped off dramatically. While he was never the same run driving-in-machine that he was in 2006 and '07, but he still stuck around in the league through the 2016 season.

He finished his career a .261 hitter with 160 home runs and 698 RBI. He had three really good seasons- the aforementioned 2006 and '07 seasons and 2011 with the Royals. In '06, he hit a career high 29 home runs. In '07, he hit .293 and knocked in 105 runs. In 2011, he hit .285 and had 20 homers, 87 RBI, and hit a career best 47 doubles. He made history that season by being part of what I believe is the first outfield trio to all have 40+ doubles in a season. His other two counterparts were Melky Cabrera and Alex Gordon.

One of my best memories at a game involves Frenchy. On May 13, 2006, I was at Turner Field to see the Braves host the Nationals. The Braves entered the ninth inning down 5-3. Brian McCann lead off the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to bring the game to within one. A handful of singles later, Jeff came up with the bases loaded. Instead of just knotting up the game or driving in two on a single, Jeff hit a walk off grand slam to send the Braves home a 8-5 winner. That was so awesome! I mentioned the walk off to him when he signed this card and he told me it was still his best memory as a ballplayer.

2008 Goudey, Billy Wagner

#GG-BW Billy Wagner

Here is a card that I pulled out of a pack in 2008. And, of course, the pack was a retail pack from Wal-Mart. Ninety percent of the packs I get are retail and all of my best pack pulled autos came out of retail packs.

Billy pitched in the Majors for sixteen seasons with the Astros, Phillies, Mets, Red Sox, and Braves. Over that time, he had a 47-40 record with 422 saves and a 2.31 ERA. Billy made seven All Star teams during his career, was in the top five of saves in the National League four times, and made the postseason seven times. His 422 saves rank him sixth all-time.

Billy was fairly consistent his whole career, minus the postseason where he had a 10.03 ERA in 11.2 innings of work. But, the one season that stands out to me is his final season in 2010 with the Braves. Billy turned thirty-nine during his one season in Atlanta and had a phenomenal year. That season, he was 7-2 with 37 saves and a 1.43 ERA. Better yet, he struck out 104 batters in just 69.1 innings. It was his first 100 strikeout season since 2003. Way to go out on top, Billy!

Billy has been eligible for the Hall of Fame for four years now. He stayed in the 10-11% voting range for the first three years before jumping up to 16.7% this year. It was a nice spike, but he has a long ways to go to reach the magical 75% plateau.

2008 Goudey, Bobby Thomson

#217 Bobby Thomson

This is probably my favorite signed 2008 Goudey that I own. While I have a few cards from the set signed by some bigger names, I also have other cards signed by those guys that I enjoy more. But, this one, on the other hand, is the only card that I have signed by Bobby and I absolutely love it. Plus, the fact that it is a mini makes it that much better.

I got this card signed through the mail in November of 2008. In fact, over a four day stretch that month, I got back Bobby Doerr, Sparky Anderson, and this card, all from this set. That was a fun week of checking the mailbox.

Bobby had a fifteen year career in the Majors, playing with the Giants, Braves, Cubs, Red Sox, and Orioles. He was a .270 career hitter that racked up 264 home runs and 1,026 RBI. He made three All Star teams, had four 100 RBI seasons, played in one World Series, and hit one of the most iconic home runs in baseball history.

I didn't notice it on the Doerr or Anderson cards, but it just seems off to see Ken Griffey on the front of this card. I love that Upper Deck put Griffey and Jeter on there to replace Lou Gehrig, but it just doesn't work on cards that feature players that played before Griffey, Sr. played.